Cable replacement services added fewer new subscribers in the 3rd quarter of 2021 than the 3rd quarter of 2020. While Fubo TV managed to add more new subscribers than in years past pushing to 945,000 total, services Hulu With Live TV and YouTube TV brought in far fewer new subs than previously. Though it should be noted both of the former have right around 4 million subscribers each.
Moffett Nathanson estimates that YouTube TV added 225,000 subscribers in the third quarter, down from 400,000 additional a year ago. Hulu Live added about 300,000 subs in the quarter, compared to a 700,000 gain a year ago.
After a year that forced most people to stay home for at least 12 months, it should be expected that subscription numbers would look different a year later. The trend follows what has been seen across other streaming options including cheaper on-demand services like Disney+.
What will be the trend in 2022? Most likely it will look similar. There are going to be more people cutting cable as has been seen for the last 10 years. But there will be no tsunami of cord-cutting. Nor will millions of people flood into the cable replacement services either. While people attempted to paint 2021 as some kind of streaming tipping point it may have simply been that streaming was one of the only ways to pass the time other than you know walking around alone, exercising and painting the kitchen.
